Nicholas Stern Warns Australia On Climate But John Howard Says He's "Just Another Expert"

[hatrack]

Solar energy and clean-coal technologies should be top research priorities for Australia in efforts to cut rising greenhouse emissions and tackle climate change, British economist Sir Nicholas Stern told a National Press Club audience yesterday. The former World Bank chief economist and author of the world's most comprehensive report on the economic impact of climate change, said Australia as a rich country needed to take a lead in dealing with global warming.

He urged Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol even if only as a "symbolic gesture" with the global treaty due to be reviewed by participants next year and set targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions by "at least 30 per cent" by 2020 and by "at least 60 per cent" by 2050.

However, Prime Minister John Howard refused to commit to the targets, claiming they would devastate Australia's economy and dismissed Sir Nicholas as "just another expert." "It would cut thousands of jobs in the coal industry. It would put back progress toward clean coal technology because of its impact on the operation of the Australian economy," Mr Howard told Parliament.

Although Sir Nicholas had made a valuable contribution to the climate change debate, his views should not be considered "holy writ", the Prime Minister said. Europeans had a different perspective on climate change to Australians because they "do not have vast reserves of fossil fuels," and had a "different view about this matter than nations that do," he said.

EDIT

http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=environment&story_id=570522&category=Environment

[ananda]

1. what good will an economy be to australia when..

.. most of the rivers dry up and the drought causes untold devastation???

[phantom power]

2. Super. Captain Planet is preserving our Progress Toward Clean Coal.

Do I laugh, or cry, or hurl?

:rofl:
;(
:puke:

:shrug:

[NNadir]

3. It doesn't get any better than that.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. "Experts? What do they know?"

Wasn't that a Homer Simpson line?

[Eclipsenow]

5. He's known as "the Rodent" downunder

One election campaign he was in got a bit nasty, and he was known as "the rodent" for a while. It seems to fit when he acts like that.